Do not engage in unprotected texts.
This year's schedule presents unique opportunities and challenges. The noon-3 pm-6 pm-and sometimes 9 pm match times allow some to watch many matches live. But not all can manage that. So please, before you blurt out a comment or text, ask the person if he/she is up-to-date with World Cup action. Don't want to have this happen to you.
Results
Brazil 3 Croatia 1 - tense but at the same time uninspiring. Discussion of PK call below.
Mexico 1 Cameroon 0 - important win but was it enough and the match versus Croatia is still the critical one. Discussion of the dos dos Santos offsides calls below.
Netherlands 5 Spain 1 - didn't see this coming. Van Persie stakes early claim to goal of the tournament. Casillas bad awful spring continues. Arjen Robben manages to stay on his feet long enough to score two goals. If I was Spain, I would immediately burn those white uniforms - if you're superstitious about those kinds of things. Creditable performance from Aston Villa's Ron (Ikea Bookcase) Vlaar. Discussion of PK call below.
Chile 3 Australia 1 - Chile got a quick start and took the foot off the petal and it nearly cost them. Wonder if that late goal will prove to be critical in a tie-situation. This could be a group where three teams have 6 points (2 wins and a loss). Add Spain-Chile on Wednesday June 18th at 3 pm to our earlier list of critical matches to watch.
Columbia 3 Greece 0 - My understanding of Columbia is that they are an inexperienced side and this was the match to get them. Columbia came out strong and got an early goal. Then, Greece did well but could not score; two late goals leave them in bad way and wins against both Ivory Coast and Japan may now be necessary. Early candidate for best celebration led by Armero:
Also, kudos to American Mark Geiger for best refereed contest to date. We will likely see him again this tournament.
Costa Rica 3 Uruguay 1 - Bob K's Los Ticos with their greatest WC performance evah! Totally earned and the score fairly reflects what I saw on the pitch. Uruguay opened the scoring with a PK and frankly weren't all that threatening for the rest of the match. All three CR goals were top quality; Duarte giving himself up to make the header in the face of the Uruguayan challenge was the standout for me. Campbell takes the lead for the weirdest goal celebration:
Apparently his point is that at 21, he's just a baby.
Italy 2 England 1 - Despite an improved English attack over previous WC sides, Italy in fact was the better team here and England was incredibly ineffective in the late stages of the match even when a draw was imminently possible. Balotelli seems to have so few touches but he makes them count. The England-Uruguay contest is now critical to each; also, take Costa Rica lightly at your own peril.
Ivory Coast 2 Japan 1 - Cheick Tiote' makes the first appearance by a Newcastle player in the tournament. First half his most notable involvement was a foul that would have done an NFL linebacker proud. Second half I thought he did well as a ball-winning midfielder and his work started the buildup for the second IC goal. And he came through the match without a yellow card. Did Drogba make the difference in this match? He comes on with the Elephants down 0-1 and within minutes they're up 2-1; he wasn't really involved in the goals but the effect on the team was noticeable.
Refereeing
Not great for FIFA when the refs get a lot of ink in the first three WC matches. Only thing more annoying than when bad calls affect games is listening to/reading commenters (some who should know better) butchering the rules in explaining why the call was wrong, which many have done on the second dos Santos offsides call.
Fred's Flop - Sure he flopped, made a meal of it in the lingo. Tough call and it changed the character of the match. This is the one that bothers me the least. Don't want to get called for a foul in the box? Keep your friggin' hands down. You put your hands over the attacker's shoulder you're inviting a flop and a call.
dos Santos offsides (warning - this section is wonky, at least from a soccer rules perspective) - First one was close but looks wrong. Some sympathy for the AR here. What made it a tougher call was that dos Santos was actually coming back to get himself onsides, i.e, he was moving. Still, looks like he got it wrong and the advice to referees is that if there is any doubt, decide in favor of the attacker. On the second, both the ref and the AR, assuming they are communicating (and are given mics and ear pieces specifically to ensure they can talk to each other), share the blame. To start with, it was a corner kick - it is not an infraction to receive a ball directly from a corner kick in an offsides position. So the only way the play could be offsides would be if another Mexican player touched it before it got to dos Santos. The replay pretty clearly shows it touched a Cameroon player. But if the AR has the flag up and the referee knows it didn't touch a Mexican player, isn't it a simple matter to talk through to get to the right call...unless off course, the referee thinks it did go off a Mexican player, in which case he appears to be mistaken. Also too, dos Santos might not have even been in an offsides position.
But the explanations as to why it's a bad call have been way off the mark. I read/heard so many comments that the Cameroon touch means it cannot be offsides since the ball was played to dos Santos by an opponent. Um, no. From USSF Advice to Referees, Section 11.4 and 11.14:
For the defenders,merely touching the ball is not sufficient in the context of an offside decision — they must actually play(possess and control) the ball, meaning that for them there is indeed a meaningful distinction between"touch" and "play."
The possibility of penalizing a player for being in an offside position must be reevaluated whenever:
1. The ball is again touched or played by a teammate,
2. The ball is played (possessed and controlled, not simply deflected, miskicked or misdirected) by an
opponent, including the opposing goalkeeper,...
Then I started seeing some comments that if a corner kick is touched by anybody (teammate or opponent), the offsides decision has to be re-evaluated, i.e. it means you didn't receive the ball "directly." I doubted that this was a correct interpretation based on everything I've read about the impact of an opponent's touch on the offsides decision but wasn't 100% sure so back on the computer searching for resources. Aha, in 2001, USSF published a document called "Speaking Directly." I haven't found a copy yet but I did get the following from it on the USSF website:
If at a goal kick, throw-in, or a corner kick taken by his team, a player receives the ball directly from the restart, there is no problem. Nor should there be any problem at a corner kick, as it is physically impossible for a player on the field of play to be offside directly from a corner kick. The confusion arises at throw-ins or goal kicks when the ball is deflected or misplayed by an opponent and then comes to the teammate of the thrower or kicker who is in an offside position. In such cases, the referee must disregard the deflection or misplay of the ball by the opponent, as there has been no infringement of the Law. However, if the ball were to be deflected or misplayed instead by a teammate of the thrower or kicker on its way to the player in the offside position, that player must be declared offside.
Frankly, I'm not so sure about the second sentence. As in, corner taken, defenders immediately pull out but an attacker stays put, ball deflects off another attacker to the attacker who is now in an offside position. Unless by definition, directly means any touch by a teammate means you no longer received it directly from the corner kick and anything short of possessed and played by an opponent means you received it directly from the corner. So I'm convinced that a touch by an opponent does not - under any circumstance - require a re-evaluation of the offsides decision.
Costa Trip - Looked pretty thin to me. Thought it was a worse call than Fred's Flop. Didn't affect the match.
One thing to watch here is whether these referees get any more center assignments or are consigned to 4th official duty (holding up the sign and taking the brunt of the verbal abuse from the coach) for the rest of the tournament.
One-sixth of the way through the group stage - highly entertaining stuff so far. Scoring is up, the viewing does not require a big shift in daily routine (see Bob K's comment in previous post), life is good. Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there.
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